sola – 05

Many years ago, a boy had arrived home to find a girl who resembled Mayuko lying in a pool of her own blood. That boy was Tsujidou Takeshi 17 years ago, and he now recalls that scene as he stands outside Yorito’s home. Yorito and Matsuri are at that moment at the convenience store picking up some items, including a large quantity of the tomato shiruko that she loves so much. After completing their purchases, the two sit on the stairs outside the store, and Matsuri wonders what the daytime sky looks like from here. Yorito proceeds to tell her about some other good spots, including the veranda of the Mizuno’s house for the evening sun and that park for the sky at sunrise. Meanwhile, Takeshi finds Mayuko in a garbage can, so he brings her to the church. As she eats the onigiri that he bought her, she questions if he’s going to go tomorrow. He tries to play dumb about what she’s referring to, but she tells him that she wants him to take her. Takeshi refuses and then notices that it’s started to rain outside.

It’s still raining the next day, and Matsuri asks if Yorito likes the rain. He answers that he doesn’t really like it because he can’t see the sky, yet Matsuri still hands him an umbrella and the two go out. She reveals that she can actually go outside on a rainy day, and the first place that she takes him is the Mizuno home. She rings the doorbell because of what Yorito had said the previous night, but then she dashes away when someone answers. Yorito chases after her and accidentally leaves behind his umbrella, so the two are forced to share hers for the rest of the day. They then make their way to the park and the vending machine where they first met. It is there that Matsuri admits that she thought he was weird when she met him. Yorito feels that he should be the one saying that since Matsuri is the weird one. Matsuri then decides that she wants to take a ride on one of the rowboats nearby, and she gets on it first and rows them out even though the guys are supposed to do those things. The two of them sit under her umbrella together and enjoy the view of the umbrella’s underside as if it were a real sky. After a while, Yorito vows to keep his promise of showing her the blue sky.

The weather clears up later that day, and Koyori pays a visit to the hospital. Aono is willing to teach Koyori more origami, but she actually has something to request in return. Back at Yorito’s home, he finds that Matsuri has laid out in the living room all the clothes that Mana gave her. After Yorito leaves to go see Aono, Matsuri hears someone come into the house. She thinks it’s Yorito, but it’s actually Koyori, and Matsuri’s voice scares Koyori enough to cause her to fall down the stairs. Matsuri manages to catch the girl, and the two get acquainted. At the hospital, Aono is inspecting one of the dolls that Yorito brought her that has a rip and stuffing coming out of it. When Yorito arrives, Aono quickly hides the doll under her pillow. Koyori meanwhile leaves Yorito’s home after Matsuri helps her with what Aono sent her to do. Matsuri then hears another noise and finds herself face to face with Takeshi in the living room. He immediately starts attacking her with his darts of light, and although she is able to dodge them, he slowly tries to corner her by ripping off all the curtains and letting the sunlight in. Having gotten singed several times, Matsuri makes her way upstairs and hides.

Takeshi draws Matsuri out with a dart and then forces her against a door, so Matsuri has no choice but to use her powers to decay the next dart he throws at her. He responds by throwing several more, so Matsuri goes through the door and falls on the floor. Drawing his sword, Takeshi is ready to finish this, but Matsuri suddenly catches the sight of the sky drawn on Yorito’s ceiling. This causes her eyes to turn lifeless, and she springs to her feet to use her powers on Takeshi’s arm. His screaming seems to knock her out of her trance, and by the time Takeshi recovers, Matsuri has escaped out the balcony. She attempts to stay in the shade in the woods outside the house, but soon is forced to lean weakly against a tree. Takeshi is easily able to track her down again and questions why she didn’t kill him. Raising his sword to strike her down, he tells her that her life is necessary for him. Before he can swing though, Yorito comes running to save her after having found the house in shambles. Yorito manages to take the sword slash to his back and then refuses to get out of the way because he had promised to show Matsuri the sky. Because he remembers a similar scene from his own past and because he hears someone – Mana – approaching, Takeshi decides to back off for today. It soon starts to rain again, and Matsuri repeats her question to Yorito about liking the rain. This time, he says that he’s come to like it a little.

At the hospital, Koyori presents Aono with the sewing kit that Aono sent her to get. When she questions why Aono wanted to keep the torn doll a secret from Yorito, Aono replies that it’s precious to her. Koyori then starts talking about getting Matsuri’s help, and it is Aono’s turn to be shocked.

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Wow, that was a lot more intense than I thought it could be, particularly with the way they threw us off by having Koyori come by the house first. I’m not quite sure exactly what it is, and I’ve said this before, but these action scenes are done really, really well. Matsuri even went SEED! :) Anyway, it was very interesting watching her disintegrate that dart and later disabling Takeshi’s arm – I wonder if it’s permanent damage. I also like how they’re introducing Takeshi’s past little by little, and how the beginning of the episode gave off a completely different feel than usual. Mayuko stuck in the garbage can was pretty cute too.
The other interesting thread here is all the relationships that are developing. Matsuri and Yorito had a date this episode – whether they call it that or not – and they’re looking more and more like a real couple. I’m sure Yorito will utter those lines about the promise to show her the blue sky at least one more time in the near future. Then there’s how Aono reacts to learning about Matsuri – she has such a great shocked face at the end of the episode. It makes me wonder again just how attached she is to her brother, especially given how precious that doll is to her. I’m looking forward to seeing how all this develops and what Aono does the next time she sees her brother.

Yeah…I was wondering the same thing, especially when Takeshi was confronting Matsuri in the park, he said something along the lines of “you are not needed” perhaps he wants Mayuko to remain as the only “special” existence. I have a feeling that Mayuko actually wants to meet Matsuri suspecting that Matsuri is similar…and exists in the same kind of space and persecution.

i still don’t think how someone who is that old (matsuru is what, 180+ years old, or was that 300+) would be interested in someone, especially with all she has gone through, getting into a relationship that is doomed to end in sadness isn’t exactly the smartest thing to do (chances are she has done it before, so she probably wouldn’t due to experience), or course there could be something special about him, so we will have to wait and see.